Boruto: Sacrifices

Chapter 3. Naruto's Decision

A complete silence descended upon the meeting hall for a full minute as everyone stood still, almost too afraid to breathe. Naruto worked to control the shocked expression on his face, but it wasn't easy.

How... how in the world had Sarutobi Kichiro found out about this...?

His eyes swept over everyone in the hall briefly, lingering longer on Sarada and Shikadai, who understandably looked dumbfounded. And Konohamaru... Konohamaru just stood there, eyes wide open, looking like he was struck by something... Naruto had absolutely no idea how he was gonna make up for this...

And then... the blast happened.

A lot of people got on their feet, their expressions outraged and... panicked.

"Hokage-sama, what's the meaning of this?"

"Did you really allow a brat of that snake in our village?"

"Not good..." Kakashi mumbled next to him. "I don't know how he learned about the kid but there was a reason he waited until now to reveal it..."

The reason was pretty clear. A panicked turmoil had come over the gathered, wild looks in their eyes... an upheaval.

Sighing inaudibly, Naruto took a step forward and raised his arms in a placating gesture. "Please. I would like everyone to just give me a moment."

The roaring of chatter dimmed slightly to a low hum.

"My decision to accept Mitsuki into the village was regardless of his parentage. I intend to keep my view on it."

"And it shouldn't solely be your decision to begin with," Kichiro continued above the crowd, dead-pan. "This matter concerns all of the village, with the boy being related to the most heinous criminal this village had created."

"It is not our way in Konoha to judge someone - especially a kid - based on his connections." Tsunade put in, as calmly as she could, already tired of the views of the elders in Konoha.

Sarada was shocked as she could do nothing but watch the mayhem unfold. "What... does that even mean...?" she heard Shikadai speak beside her. "Sarada... did you know this...?"

"N-no... I had no idea..." the girl mumbled numbly, shaking her head. "But... I know Orochimaru... and he's..." she couldn't exactly complete the sentence.

The Nara raised an eyebrow. "Well, I've heard of his name a number of times before, but neither my parents nor my uncles go into details..."

"I'm surprised, really," came a voice behind them, and both turned to look at who was speaking. "Your family was one of those who was the worst affected by that snake."

"Sarutobi Ichiro." Shikadai said wearily. "What do you mean, worst affected?"

"Oh boy, you really don't know." Ichiro tsk tsked, shaking his head. "Well, I guess families really do like to mollycoddle the younger rather than let them face the truth for their own sake."

One of the girls standing next to him, his teammate, sighed and closed her eyes. "Really Ichiro, can we spend just one day without you going around having beef with someone?"

"Oh, I'm not trying to start anything Wasabi," the teen crossed his arms with a smirk. "But for now, let's continue to watch how this will unfold. It's gonna be interesting."

And unfolding it was. The whole room was on its feet now, everyone talking at the same time, trying to get their voices heard.

"And how are we supposed to relax when his kid is roaming free in our village?" asked one from the Yamanaka clan. "Do you have any evidence to prove he wasn't related to the attack at all?"